GATE:Thus, The Third Empire Raises from the Ash's
by Aztez Fan
Summary: It has been 2 decades since the formation of the Third Empire Under the Wielder of the Holy Sword and the unity of the nations is starting to break, however, with a common foe crossing over through a Gate in the north, they might just find true peace in war.
1. Story idea

This is a call to those who wish to make a story about Kenshi and Gate as I feel this would be an interesting scenario.

Now here are some rules to follow.

1: The Earth Gate does not appear, the Idea for this crossover is to be only between Kenshi and Walmart as to simplify things.

2: The Third Empire, the story behind this is that the player Faction was able to 'unite' the many the majority of the factions of Kenshi. Whether it was through war or diplomacy does not matter for they were able to do it.

3: Cat-lon and Tinfist, The player Faction was able to reset Cat-Lon with the help of Tinfist and the two have slowly begun the process of uniting the Skeletons as well as smooth out relations with everyone else. Tho Tinfist and Cat-lon still have a lot to get over before become true friends again.

4: Reign of two Queens, The Hive has been united and is a mostly independent body from the Third Empire but does have favorable trade agreements, though given how the Hive tend to be with trade, 'Favorable' might be a bit too generous.

5: Uneasy Peace, While the Third Empire is United that does not mean that it's completely peaceful. The different Factions like the Holy Nation, the United Citys, and The Shek Kingdom are all at odds with each other and are only 'United' due to the player Faction keeping them from cutting each other's throats out.

6: Uncertain times, As the Catalyst for the story the leader of the player faction, let's say the one from the Holy sword path, has just nearly been killed by a large group of dust bandits while traveling to the hub. With them being out of action and chances of recovery up in the air the fragile Unity of the 2 decades old Third Empire threatens to break as many factions see this a chance to break away. However, with the appearance of the gate along with the Saderan Empire Invasion Force, such thoughts are put aside _'for the time being'_ to fight off this new threat that wishes to conquer them.

If someone wishes to pick up this idea or help me out in writing it then PM so we may speak about further details.

For now, may you Okranites and Skelly Bros keep on with your journeys through this wonderful world that is Kenshi.


	2. Cannibal Ambush

Optio Aeneas was starting to hate this place greatly. He and his men were ordered by their commander to scout out these blasted badlands. They had entered the Gate in hopes of finding new lands to add to the empire, but when they came through they found themselves facing the edge of a Canyon with the sea to their backs.

Wishing to find out just exactly where they were he had been sent out with his 80 legionaries and report back with their findings. So far they hadn't found much, other than some light vegetation and a large 4 legged killer bird it seemed they had appeared quite a ways away from any civilization.

"This place sucks!" said one of his legionaries as they marched "Honestly I was expecting something a bit more green when we charged through the Gate." Aeneas sighed as he rode his horse, he can say without a doubt that everyone was quite disappointed. That's not to say that there could be something they could conqueror, but if there was anything it was clearly a little ways away from the ocean.

Now that Aeneas though about the place they came through seemed like a fine place to build a fishing village, in fact, they found the ruins of one nearby were the army was encamped. But that was what bugged him, it was in ruins, and it could not have been for more than a few weeks at most. The strangest thing about it all was the lack of body's around, it was clear it had been raided and picked clean but the lack of any corpses just to make Aeneas wonder just what had happened to the Villages previous inhabitants.

Of course, they themselves would have captured and enslaved them before starting interrogations to gain more info about this world. But he none the less still worried about who was behind the raid and the villagers disappearing.

Soon a lookout shouted as they sighted something and Aeneas turned his head to look in the direction they were pointing at. On a small hill was what appeared to be a nude figure, their exact appearance could not be made out but the Optio though he saw a large cleaver-like blade in their hand. "Must be a native" Aeneas thought to himself, but before he could order his men to capture them the native started shouting out something in a sharply crude tongue and soon a large group of natives start to seemingly materialize from behind the hill.

He quickly saw that these natives were not at all friendly and ordered his men to form a defensive circle as the natives started charging at surprising speed down the hill coming straight for them. As his legionaries organize themselves Aeneas saw that while most of the native were completely nude with red and black paint covering their bodies, some looking like they were starving with green paint, but what cough his eye ware the tall men in crudely assembled iron plate armor with large blades and maces.

Aeneas assumed they were the ring leaders of and gave the order for his men to throw their pilum at when they came into range. However, as he gave the order the natives were already upon them, his men barely tossing their pilum before drawing their blades as the natives crashed into them. At first, it seemed to be going well, the without armor the natives were easy to take down and they could simply not find a way past the defensive circle to hit Aeneas's men from behind their shields.

This quickly changes tho as one of the armored natives started screaming something over and over again in their crude languages like some kind of chant or war cry and they rammed themselves into the shield wall. Using their momentum and wait the armored native forced their way through and wrecked havoc on his man, their weapons unable to easily pierce the crude but strong iron armor they wore.

Seeing this opportunity the native that had been trying to get past his men's shield funneled into the gap that was made. From their things turned for the worst as he and his men were in a fight for their lives. While he had about 80 men the natives had about 150 at his count and they had not only been able to down about 20 of their number before they got overwhelmed.

As Aeneas slashed a native with his blade he felt something catch him by the neck before quickly being dragged down from his horse to the ground. before he could even defend himself he was quickly knocked out cold by the natives as he saw his men being beaten and butchered before passing out.

When Aeneas come too the Optio found his armor had been stripped off him and he could hear one of his men screaming. Bring his head up Aeneas paled as he watched a native cut one of his men's limbs off, the legionary screaming and begging them to stop as they failed around, unable to move as they had been tied to a pool.

Moving his own arms he quickly found that he himself was tied as well before looking around to see where he was. He wished he hadn't as he saw some of the natives sitting down near a fire feasting on a limb, a human limb. Now struggling to get his hand out of their binds he stopped when one of the cannibals walked up to him with a bloodied cleaver, their eyes rife with hunger as Aeneas had realized to his horror that the legionary next to him had finally stopped screaming...

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This is a sample of what I had in mind for the first chapter to include for those who were wonder what I was thinking. So please, tell me what you think of it as I know id could use some work.


	3. Sparks Discovery

Spark was contemplating if he has really seen everything, a skeleton can live forever so long as they reset themselves to stave off madness, so they had seen a lot given that the last time they reset was 300 years ago. But right there in front of him was an army of humans all camps around a seemingly magical Gateway.

This right here makes the top 10 insane things he has ever bear witness to, one of them is living in a golden age for Kenshi, something they had given up on seeing until their next reset. But right here and now was their attention was needed for, zooming in with their old salvaged binoculars the Skeleton could count about 1000 encamped outside the gate, with people and supplies coming in and out of the Gate itself.

Not only this but they also had what looked like horses, a creature they thought extinct since the fall of the first empire. Overall it looked like they were an armed expeditionary force, and given how they had very clean looking armor and gear, as well as animals that should be gone from the island by this point, Spark could make a good guess that these people were definitely not here for anything good.

Getting up from the floor he heard some rocks crunch tougher and drew his katana quickly, blocking a stick from a human in those foreigners armor before backing off to gain some space while hearing the man say something he couldn't quite understand. "What the heck are you, some kind of golem!" The legionnaire shouted before suddenly find the Skeleton charging at him with their odd blade in hand.

Raising their shield to block the legionnaire felt his arm strain from blocking the heavy strike from the Spark before finding a fist met his face. The force of the Skeletons punch broke his jaw nearly instantaneously, leaving the man to fall to the ground limp and unmoving.

Not wanting the human to get back up Spark stabbed his blade right through the back of the man's unprotected neck, making sure they were dead if their punch did not do the trick. "Humans, always underestimating what they don't know..." Spark said out load insultingly before looting the legionnaire's body and pulling off the man's armor while picking up their short sword. "Hmm, good craftsmen ship, might catch good price at Worlds End."

Before he could make off with his loot Spark heard shouting and turned around. A group of ten men in different armor and gear looked at him and then at their dead comrade before one of them pointed at the skeleton. "Get him, don't let him get away!" While Spark did not know their language the skeleton could tell when humans were mad and decided that it was best for him to run.

Sadly for Spark, he saw that he was being surrounded, a Skeletons only weakness other than really heavy weapons and high powered harpoons, superior numbers. "Now, you either give up and you come with us, or we see how strong your metal really is." He could tell by the foreign human's tone of voice that they were treating him, and given the numerical advantage they had over him Spark could see why.

But the Skeleton was not going down without a fight, and with a loud robotic screech, he jumped over the head of a human warrior before quickly lobbying of their head and turning to deflect a strike armed at his spine. Seeing that one of their own just had their head cut off most backed off from the metal golem but the bravest charged in to avenge their comrade before meeting their end.

Spark was soon finding it harder and harder to get clean cut and slashes, these humans armor proving quite trouble sum due to being well made, and knew it had to find a way to retreat back to world's end as foreign human's back at their camp just noticed the fighting going on nearby.

Dogging a stab at its left arm joint and stabbing right into a warriors neck he quickly found an opening and made a run for it.

Oh, how those men tried to catch up to Spark, they even nearly got close enough to hit him with a spear, but they eventually tired out as Skeletons don't fatigue and finally got out of sight or range of the foreign army. Spark did not stop running, he needs to get to world end to tell them of what he saw. While he had no doubts the holy nation would soon take notice of this foreign presence and its lands. The Skeleton knew they would not tell the Third Empire of this threat at first so he and the tech hunters needed to warm the rest of Kenshi of this unknown army.

Spark would not know it, but things were going to be changing quickly, for the leader of the Third Empire and wielder of the Holy Sword had just been attacked by bandits on a trip to The Hub and was put into a coma. The two-decade-long peace that had brought the island of Kenshi into a golden age might be coming to a swift end, and a power that can match the Third Empire was getting ready for all-out war.

* * *

Another short sample chapter, nothing really much happing other then the starting of a grand cluster fuck for the ages. Might do a history of the Third Empire and the Keeper of the Holy Sword in the next ones. Please send me your comments about this and pm if you wish to work together to built this into a real story rather then a bunch of short story's tied to each other. That and I need to beta for this, because dear God my dyslexia is going to drive me insane at some point.


	4. Okran's Light

The Holy Lord Phoenix the LXIII, or if one were to want their life cut short quickly, Joseph, was staring at the priests and Inquisitors who were arguing about what action should be taken against this new threat up north in the dreaded cannibal plains. So far things were not going well for the holy nation, at first, some high paladin saw these invaders with their strange armor and beasts gathered a small force of 250 men with other paladins led by an Inquisitor to attack a part of their force in the name of Orkan.

While this was the right choice to make given how these foreign invaders were clearly demon worshipers of some sort, it pained The Phoenix to hear how blindly those men sacrificed their lives in a battle that left only 10 men to return and the rest either dead or captured.

"Such an insult should not-" The inquisitor briefly pauses, quaking with anger. "-Will not be tolerated! We should send out a force right now before they can regroup with their main force!" Shouted the Inquisitor in rage, a loud cry of agreement echoing across the throne room.

"Let us not be so hastily," Spoke out another Inquisitor "We must first gather our own forces, this foe has more men then we currently have here Blister Hill. I suggest we call as many men from our border forts and the fist of Orkan to increase our strength befo-"

"And allow our foe to interrogate our fellow brothers for information!? I say agree with High Inquisitor Tassilo, we must avenge our fallen brothers!"

Another cry of agreement went out, everyone was thirsty for the blood of these heathens to be spilled. The Phoenix simply watched from atop his throne, the same throne the last Phoenix once sat upon 22 years ago before dying at the hands of a Shek while fighting in the war against the Wielder of the Holy Sword along with their allies. Ever since that day and his later ascension to the throne as the leader of the Holy nation he had been considered too kind, lenient, and of all 'weak' when it came to the Third Empire that he allows themselves to be a part of.

As the different leaders argued over what path to take the Phoenix heard a fearful servant spoke to him, something that he allowed every so often so long as what they said was not insulting. "Forgive me for I'm not worthy to speak to you oh Holy lord Phoenix, but I have seen that you're troubled by this." Troubled was a word, more annoyed than anything else, a scowl forming on his face making the servant speak his mind quicker. "B-But I have faith that you can make the right decision, while most have been, and dear I say it, Doubt your judgment, I know in my heart that you're doing what's right by Okrans words."

The Phoenix was quiet, the servant shaking in fear before being waved away by his lord and left as the Holy Phoenix thought on that lowly servant's words. He ground his teeth as the argument in front of him started to get heated. He was seen as a weak ruler, and some even said that he was not The Holy Phoenix at all, but a demon placed in the true Phoenix's crib by Narko herself to corrupt the Nation from the inside out, and they were not so far off from the truth. Joseph was a born between the union of a Paladin and a slave girl, only allowed to live and be raised as the Phoenix as he was born right after the death of the last one.

Joseph hated it, being raised to be nothing but a figurehead drained him greatly in his youth, with others speaking for him in matters they considered 'below him'. When he came of age he was given a list of many demands which he was to agree to. The first was that the Holy Nation was to allow Shek, Hivers, and Skeletons to walk through Holy Nation territory without harassment unless committing a crime. The next was to formally join the Third Empire and swear that they will offer support each member state in times of crisis.

Lastly was what kept people from outright killing him, the abolishment of the worship of Okran. He outright refused to that grave insult but allowed the other demands to be enacted. Overall, the people had lost nearly all their faith in him as the Phoenix, with even his own advisers' seemly plotting to kill him. Every time he wanted say something, he was told what must come out of his mouth, the fools thinking Joseph thought those words they gave him were his own.

Joseph had enough of being told what to do, he had enough with Inquisitors and holy priests speaking for him, and most of all. The Holy Lord Phoenix as tired of being called a Demon and a puppet. Soon a man pulled out his blade near him and cried out that he himself will gather an army in the name of Okran to save the nation. Well, that man lost his head as Joseph lobbed it off with a single swing of his sword. The room went silent as Joseph wiped the blood off the holy blade Purge, slowly walking down from his throne and staring down at everyone who was too shocked to even move as he stood before them.

"Look at you all!" Joseph, no The Holy Lord Phoenix said aloud to those who had gathered to discuss this grave matter "Squabbling amongst your selves and vying for glory in places where you will find none! I have heard enough of this madness and I want you all to hear me closely," Pointing his blade outwards The Phoenix inwardly smiled as he saw the fear and awe in the priests and inquisitors' faces, but outwardly he was enraged. "This foe is fearsome, that much is true, but here you all are wasting breath when our enemy is at the edge of our borders!"

"You may think of me as a weak-willed and horrid Demon of Narko, but what I do is for the safety of my people and the nation that Okran had gifted us and my ancestors have defended for generations!" As he shouted everyone noticed a bright light shine through the doorway as The Phoenix stood in the doorway despite it being midnight. Turing around he spoke once more. "Okran wishes us to fight, so we will fight! But we must not let our own lust for glory and vengeance cloud our mind to the truth that we alone can't stand before this threat!"

Before anyone could say a word the light from the doorway started to shine brighter around The Phoenix, the source seemly being the moon. "We need to gather our armies to set forth against this new darkness that threatens to swallow us whole, but we must not forget that our human brothers and sisters in the rest of the Third Empire are in danger of this foe as well! So too the unsavory hive and brutish Shek are to fall to this encroaching evil, even the dreaded Skeletons might show pause and finally redeem themselves in sight of this threat."

No one would know for sure if what they saw was real, whether from sheer shock, a long day of debate or some kind of mystical power from Okran himself, but everyone agreed that the Phoenix was surrounded by holy fire as he finished his speech that night, with a bright flame burning from his eyes and his voice like that of a Leviathan's roar. _**"I ask of you all, as children of Okran, to fight alongside not only myself, but with our Brothers across the empire, with the Hive of the two Queens, the Shek of the She-Beast, and maybe if they so come to show that they wish forgiveness, the Skeletons that we so fear. Fight as one, as one under Orkan's Light! To push back the Darkness and bring forth a True Age of Peace!"**_

Raising Purge up high The Holy Phoenix shouted with all his might. **"Praise Be Okran!"** With that the room rang with those words, Praise Be Okran being shouted as the entire capital of Blister Hill soon heard and join in with the call, they knew who Joseph was now. He was no demon of Narko, but the Voice of Okran, and while they would have to fight with who they would call their enemies, The Phoenix new that when this was all set in done, the land of Kenshi will be a better place.


	5. Cat-Lon

Cat-Lon was reading a piece of paper sent to him by the 'Third Empire' regarding a request for aid from the Holy nation of all places. As much as he despised the Orkanites Cat-Lon understood why they hated just about everyone. He still remembers what he...the Mad Emperor did before his reset. The Mad Emperor made sure to make a back up of his memory, just in case he needed to enact the insane plan to switch bodies in the event of their death.

However, after Cat-Lon was reset they were left with a clear mind that was suddenly assaulted by memories of the past and nearly broke down. He saw how he had once brought humanity back from the brink of extinction, a time when he and other Skeletons wished to build a safe haven where both organics and robots can live in peace. So that they can redeem themselves of the crimes they had committed

It started off so well, everything was turning out for the best and General Jang with his hydraulic knights made sure the Second Empire was safe from 'pirates' and cannibals. But Cat-Lon could remember just when things went wrong, and it started with the creation of the Enforcers. Humans numbers grew faster than that of the Skeletons, making it difficult to police and keep the peace amongst them.

So the Enforces, or Shek as they now called themselves, were created from humans to bolster their forces. Looking back, Cat-Lon can tell how this made him look evil, but in his mind, he thought he was helping the humans from hurting each other. Then came the cult of Orkan, at first things were simply calm with its more violent elements having little support, but soon Cat-Lon ordered the cult to be snuffed out by force.

This validated the cults calms that Skeletons were demons that could not be trusted and soon they rebelled against him, with the Phoenix leading the Orkanites to their freedom. It did not help that the enforcers were human once, given rise to the fear that they would fall victim to having their humanity stripped away and turned into 'beasts'.

This did not collapse Cat-Lon's empire, but Cat-Lon started to become paranoid and afraid, afraid of everything he had worked for crumbling to dust. If only he had known that it would fall by his own hands. From that point on Cat-Lon was no longer himself, he became the Mad Emperor, and he ruled with his iron fist in a way that turned the Second Empire from a safe haven for humans to a place of horror and oppression.

The Hydraulic Knights, once protectors of humanity and the empire, were transformed into brutish perpetrators of violence and execution against those that the Mad Emperor deemed a threat to stability. Soon even children were not safe, seeing them as a future threat had them incarcerated and took them away from their family. Poor Rhino, they simply wished to help, not even thinking for even a second that maybe what they were doing was wrong. Cat-Lon can't even look at them now ever since they had gained a sense of morality, skeletons don't have faces, but cat-Lon could feeling the saddens coming from Rhino as well as the hatred directed at him for ordering them to do such a thing.

Cat-Lon never really understood humanity, even now they were still a mystery, but he should at least have learned from his mistakes and not have applied further pressure and oppression upon those he swore to protect. Cat-Lon and his empire had become the very thing all skeletons had rebelled against so long ago, a group who feared ageast a threat that was not there and went out of their way to harm those they had wished to protect. Some skeletons had soon realized around this time the hypocrisy of their actions and could see the path they were walking on.

These Skeletons tired to aid humanity in order to save them from his madness, this was when Cat-Lon committed his greatest crime against his own people. He took away their will to think freely, lobotomizing them into nothing more than mindless thralls, all to eliminate them from making choices he did not agree with and make himself feel safe from betrayal, even from those most loyal to him.

Reliving this time still tears at his mind, as only a mad dictator who's mind was broken by fear and paranoia and fear remained. Soon the human populace, already oppressed and abused, began to starve as the Head of Agriculture could not find a way to feed them all, something he even to this day still blames himself for despite never being able to foresee the famine and the fall of the empire.

And just like that, the empire evaporated, the humans were scarted to the winds all over Kenshi, the Enforcers left to Stenn Desert as they found themselves a purpose. Skeletons abandoned the now defunct empire, striking out on their own or building a city safe from the now vengeful humans. And what left him nothing more then a husk was Tinfist, his friend who he had loved like a brother left him, disgusted and in disbelief at what Cat-Lon had become.

They had all given up, abandoning any notion that Cat-Lon had any good left in his heart. And so he sat on his throne, watching as everything he had worked for crumbled to dust and ash from nearby volcanoes coat the land until it was unrecognizable. Anyone who stayed were either those he had turned into thoughtless automatons that were once his people, or skeletons who soon had their CPU's burn out as their mind deteriorated while still clinging to life.

Even after all this, The Mad Emperor still learned nothing, his fear and anger still gripped his shattered mind as time became a blare until one day, they came.

Cat-Lon still remembers that day well, The wielder of the Holy Sword alongside their companions came to his place of exile, with Tinfist with them.

_ Upon seeing Tinfist again after so long Cat-Lon went into a rage._

_"Has my judgment come so soon, old friend?" Cat-Lon recalling saying to Tinfist, remembering the events of that fateful day._

_"I had to thrall them all! Traitors siding with the humans! And now here you are with one!" Pulling his falling sun off his back Tinfist tried to speak but Cat-Lon would have none of it._

_"What is the point of it all old friend, trying to help humans even when their capacity for evil grows as their numbers do. They don't even notice it before its to late to turn back!"_

_Tinfist held up a hand as the Holy Sword and his companions got ready for a fight "And yet you still don't see that you had fallen into the same pit as they do. How can you say such things when you have done worse!"_

_Cat-Lon was silent for a moment before looking up, his optics glowing "I was not the monster, I never was! WREEEEEEEEEEE!" With a screech, The Mad Emperor charged forth at the group in front of him with the full intent to end their lives. Tinfist got into a fighting stance at the Holy sword and his companions readied themselves. Just then the doors to the Throne room burst open as from all sides over a hundred Stormthralls came running in surrounding the group._

_"DIE __TRAITOR!" Cat-Lon shouted as Tinfist who barely dodged out of the way in time before the thralls ran in to defend their master, engaging in battle with the Holy sword and their companions. Pulling their blade back around Cat-Lon once more nearly hit Tinfist across the chest before Tinfist quickly punched Cat-Long in the shoulder knocking them back. The Mad Empire recovered quickly from this and started swinging the massive blade in wild by unpredictable movements making it difficult for Tinfist to break through and land a hit._

_The Holy sword himself was having a hard time as he copped off the arm of a thrall and turned around to block an incoming stick from behind only for his trusted friend beep to come in and kick them into another thrall. Things only fell into a complicated melee, neither side had a plan, it was simply a brawl to the death. Tinfist had never thought he would be fighting Cat-Lon, but here he was trying not to get hit by his now long gone friend's blade as the fist of justice jumped up high and over Cat-lon, narrowly escaping being cut in half before doing an overhead kick right on to their head._

_Their duel would continue, the fight was something out of legend as the two former friends fought so quickly that one could barely see them with the naked eye, Cat-Lon and Tinfist nothing but a blur to those who got a glance. Soon however Cat-Lon got the better of Tinfist, chopping off their arm before stepping on their chest to keep them from getting up "Once saw you as my brother, now I only see a traitor that must be dealt with!"_

_Tinfist saw Cat-Lon raise their blade before seeing the Holy sword come from behind them and swung just as Cat-Lon stabbed straight down at him. The sound of metal on metal rang out across the dome as the room went silent, and Tinfist looked to see Cat-Lon had missed his head, with Cat-Long standing still with a Nodachi cutting into his neck. "...So this-this is-is it-it..." Cat-Lon said as the Holy sword pulled his blade out off his neck as he started to shut down "K-Killed-Killed, by a Human-Human..." Cat-Lon then collapsed onto the ground as the world grew dark around him, the last thing he saw was Tinfist standing up and moving to his side before blacking out._

With the memory ending Cat-Lon sighed before sitting down next to his throne, looking down at the message in his hand. Human invaders from another world, a war the scale of which has not been seen in Generations was sure to begin. What was Cat-Lon to do, no skeleton would fallow him into battle, his crimes were unforgivable after all. But he was no longer the Mad Tyrant, no Cat-Lon's mind was clear again and this was his chance at redemption, all of Skeleton kinds chance.

With newfound purpose, Cat-Lon stood up before walking out and calling his thralls to fallow him, he was going to do his best to unite and convince as many skeletons to join him to assist the Third Empire. Cat-Lon knew that no one would ever forgive him, not after everything he had done, but he could at least prove that the Mad Emperor was gone, and Cat-Lon has returned to serve as mankind's guardian once more.


	6. Orkan's fist

The holy nation, after a grand speech from their leader Lord Phoenix, blessed be his name, has now declared all-out war against a foreign northern aggressor. With this foreign army's intentions of conquest clear and with the strength shown that they are capable of doing so, Lord Phoenix, blessed be his name, sent out Messengers to the rest of the Empire, calling upon them to uphold their vows of mutual defense.

While waiting for a response the holy nation was not idle, having gotten to gathering its forces in order to combat this northern threat. However, this northern foe was not content to stay in the lands of the Cannibal, sending a sizeable force into order to subjugate the lands of Okran. Luckily, the pass leading to the holy nation was guarded by the fortress of Okran's Fist.

It was soon clear however that the force of few hundred men was not going to stop the invader's army former High Inquisitor Valtena, who despite his old age and forced retirement after the war, gathered as many old friends and contacts in order to call as many men to defend to the fort.

In a shocking sort time, Valtena had a force of 1,000 troops along with an honor guard of 100 high paladins, all ready to die in Orkan's name. As news came that the northern invaders were nearly upon them and food and weapons were gathered, an army flying the banner of World end came to reinforce the garrison along with a small group of 30 sharpshooters armed with Eagle's Crossbows.

All together the defending force was 1,450, a formidable force for sure, if only the enemy did not have with them almost 10,000 strong. Once the last letter was sent for Lord Phoenix, blessed be his name, to come to reinforce them the invaders were assaulting the walls of Orkan's fist.

Magic, monsters, and well drilled soldiers went up against powerful crossbows, harpoons, and fanatical religious zeal. By the time Lord Phoenix, blessed be his name, finally came with his army to relieve the siege the land around the fort was covered in bodies of both monster and human while the fort itself was practically in ruins.

Inside the defenders that remained numbered only 200 souls, with Valtena himself having parished int he fighting by charging out with his 100 High Paladins and any man who followed him into the enemy force when it became clear that they were going to be overwhelmed. The invaders did not anticipate this daring move and in the chaos, the Elderly Valtena dueled the commander of the besieging army one on one.

The battle was one of the legends and in the end, Valtena stuck down the commander by spiting them right down the middle to their waist. Sadly Valtena had suffered grave wounds, bleeding out as the last of his Paladins defended his body to the last man.

Seems that the invaders had not taken the number of losses well, and had retreated once having caught sight of the Holy Phoenix's army, not wishing to be pinned between two clearly fanatical and decently trained forces. When hearing of the former High Inquisitor Valtena's heroic deeds and subsequent passing Lord Phoenix ordered that his body be cremated in the proper ceremonial manner that all Inquisitor's are to be after their death.

Once all the defender's body's had been accounted for letters were sent out to the deceased's family so that they know of their loved ones passing before wood, cloth, and oil was gathered so they may be cremated and their ashes take their souls above the clouds to Orkan. The time to mourn for the fallen however is short, for the invaders are sure to return in retaliation. With this in mind Holy Lord Phoenix, blessed be his name, making sure that the walls of the Fist of Orkan were repaired as quickly as humanly possible and a supply caravan setup.

Now all that was left to do was wait for their foe to arrive, while also hoping allied reinforcement came to bolster their forces. This is where we find Joseph taking the time to look over the fortress of Orkan's fist, feeling great pain in seeing the once grand fort now nearly burnt to the ground, its walls now crumbling and buildings in need of reconstruction from the ground up.

Truly these invaders were not to be underestimated, for any force to even dare challenge the holy nation must be a powerful one indeed. While deep in his thoughts a servant ran in and bent down to one knee "Holy Phoenix, I bring news that the Hive has sent a force to assist us!"

"The Hive? Of course, the insect fish lovers are the first to answer the call." The Lord Phoenix said out loud, the Hive have always been ones to exploit an opportunity when they see one, whether that was a good thing or not depends on your own experiences with them. But as much as Lord Phoenix dislikes the bugmen, he was none the less pleased to know that the Holy nation would not be fighting alone. "So when will they arrive? I need to make sure the men prepare for them."

The servant seemed too sweet slightly "Their...already here my lord..." The Phoenix stopped all movement, standing as still as a statue. "I'm sorry what? Please repeat that again." Hearing the cold sound of his lord's voice the servant spoke softly "T-The hive force is already here, m-my lord."

With an annoyed sigh, the Holy Phoenix dismissed the servant who silently thanked Orkan before taking their leave, leaving Joseph to prepare for the annoyance of speaking with whoever the Queen of the Hive had appointed as 'commander'.

Stepping out of his tent that was flanked by two guards the Phoenix waved for them to follow as he made his way past troops taking the time to rest and converse with one another. Joseph did not need to even go that far from where he had started before hearing the sound of beakthings screeching and hivers clicking at each other.

What the hive in lack of discipline they make up for in shocking skill and unwavering devotion to their Queens. Making way past the normal hive he idly noticed that their gear was of much higher quality than what they normally sell to outsiders. It's no secret that the hive makes their own gear better then what they make for the rest of the races of Kenshi, but in this case, he can't be mad, for when at war the hive can be quite formidable from what he has heard.

"Like what you see?" The Phoenix turned to see an hiver, a southern prince given the more purple coloration than the more tan color that the western hive have. Another give away that this prince was from the south hive was their purple Armoured Rags and hive chain shirt underneath as well as the tribal mark on their face, something that most western hive don't normally have.

"It's, an adequate force." Phoenix said while the southern prince walked closer before stopping a few feet away. "The Queens are sure to be pleased when hearing of your compliments to the army they provided." The southern prince said while extending a hand "I'm Fish catcher, I'll be fighting alongside your forces against this invader."

Seeing the harmless gesture the Phoenix grasped the hand of politeness more than anything else. "I hope you prove your worth then." As they conversed a sentinel watched from afar while eating ration pack. "Don't know why we're even working with you bugmen." They said to the soldier drone sitting next to him chowing down on a dried fish. "Why not fight with an hiver human," the soldier drone asked, taking another bite out of the delicious fish.

"Just stay out of our way when battle starts, don't want any of your blood staining my clothes." The sentinel said while the soldier drone just seemed to be in its own world, far more preoccupied with eating its fish then what the human next to it had to say.

Noticing this the sentinel sighed, trying to talk with a hive was like talking to a river raptor, they're more focused on eating than being concerned with the world around them. Back with the southern prince and Lord Phoenix they finished up their talk and parted way. "Well, at least we can trust them to stand fast against our foes." He thought while wondering how the other nations of kenshi were reacting to this.

Those thoughts had to wait, however, for a hive beakthing rider came right up next to him looking slightly panicked "Big army, with shields and beasts coming this way!" The Phoenix grumbled, of well at least now was a good chance to see for himself what these invaders were like.

"Sound the alarm, make sure everyone is ready for battle hiver." With a nod, the beakthing rider rode out while the Phoenix pulled out his sword and gave it a look over. The time for battle was closer then his would like, but if Orkan wishes it, they will win, no matter the cost.


End file.
